Max Mosley slapped down
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011The European Court of Human Rights has unanimously rejected Formula 1 boss Max Mosley’s claim that the UK’s laws didn’t sufficiently protect his privacy because they didn’t require the press to give him advance notice before publishing invasive articles about him. The most surprising thing about this decision is that the ECHR held that it […]
Whale Oil loses his appeal
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011Cameron Slater has lost his High Court appeal against his convictions for breaching a variety of name suppression orders, and against the penalties imposed (ie fines totalling $6750). Remarkably, none of the 16 king-hit arguments he boasted of has found favour with either of the judges who has considered his case.
Super-injunctions debunked
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011If you want to know what’s going on with so-called “super injunctions” (that is, court orders that not only suppress particular information but also suppress the fact of their existence), I suggest you don’t read the British press. Or anything that comes out of it. The British papers are so incensed by the idea of the […]
Mosley decision imminent
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011Max Mosley has argued before the European Court of Human Rights that the right to privacy requires that people subjected to invasive intrusions by the media must be informed about them before publication to give them a chance to challenge them in the courts before the damage is done. This has the potential to throw […]
Igniting debate
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011Yesterday, I was on TVNZ’s Breakfast show to talk about the Morse decision.
Flag that
Saturday, May 7th, 2011Anyone reading today’s front-page story on the Morse flag-burning decision has every right to be confused. The paper correctly reports that the Supreme Court has found that it’s necessary to prove that offensive behaviour must give rise to a “disturbance of public order” before a conviction can be entered. But the paper reports that a […]
Victory for protesters’ rights
Friday, May 6th, 2011Valerie Morse has won her appeal in the Supreme Court against her conviction for offensive behaviour for burning a NZ flag in protest at the 2007 Anzac Day dawn ceremony. (I represented her, along with Tony Shaw and Felix Geiringer). Valerie lost in the District Court, High Court and Court of Appeal. But the decision […]
Journalists I like
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011I’m conscious of the fact that I often bag on journalists and media organisations. So I’ve decided to throw out the occasional bouquet too, in the interests of balance. First up: take a bow Margo White. Her recent Listener story on the Maungatautari Ecological Island reminded me what a terrific journalist she is: thorough, smart, […]
Information sharing recommendations
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011New Zealand’s laws setting out what information government agencies are able to share with each other is a bit chaotic. In the Brown case, the judge noted with alarm that the Department of Corrections had cited the Privacy Act for its refusal to share information about a recently released convicted pedophile with Police in the locality he’d […]
Is the BSA becoming more conservative?
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011Broadcasters claim that our new crop of BSA members are more conservative than the last lot. They point to the decisions upholding good taste and decency complaints against Hung, Home and Away and the documentary about Aramoana. Are they right? In short: I don’t really think so. I had a quick squizz through the last […]
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